Theodore turned aside six shots in the first, 13 in the second
and nine in the third en route to his first shutout of the
season and 27th career.

"I knew in the first period I was seeing the puck well,"
Theodore said. "Even if I didn't see a lot of shots early, I
knew I would need a good shot to beat me. I was seeing the
puck."

Signed by the Capitals as a free agent during the offseason
after spending two-plus seasons in Colorado, Theodore had
dropped his only game against the Canadiens, who selected him
44th overall in the 1994 draft.

"Last game I played (against Montreal - he gave up eight goals
with Colorado) was not a fun game," Theodore said. "I played
500 games with them, but you've got to turn the page. Tonight,
I just wanted to help my team win a game. It was a hard-fought
battle, and we responded with a lot of pride and character."

Alex Ovechkin extended his goal-scoring streak to three games
and Dave Steckel also tallied for the Capitals, who have won two
in a row after a three-game losing skid.

"Before the game, we looked over at him, and he was
concentrating on the game," Ovechkin said of Theodore. "Today,
he played unbelievable. We feel safe with him in the net."

Starting in place of Carey Price for the first time in seven
contests, Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves for Montreal.

"That's where I'm embarrassed with the effort that we give in
front of (Halak)," Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau said. "The
kid hasn't played in two weeks, and we come up with that kind of
game, that kind of effort. I'm really sad for him."

Washington coach Bruce Boudreau reached the 50-win plateau in 84
games behind the Capitals' bench. Jim Schoenfeld led the
Capitals to 50 wins in 98 games from 1993-95.

The 2008 Jack Adams Award winner as the league's best coach,
Boudreau was hired in late November last season and went 37-17-7
after inheriting a team that struggled to a 6-14-1 mark.

"(Theodore) was fabulous," Boudreau said. "The saves he made
over a period of five minutes in the second period were pretty
dazzling. If you're going to put importance on (the shutout),
it would be for Theo's mindset. For us, it was the win."

Fleischmann opened the scoring with 8:57 remaining in the first
period after stealing a clearing pass from behind the net and
passing to Michael Nylander, who fed it back to Czech.
Fleischmann beat Halak for his ninth goal of the season.

Fleischmann has five goals and eight points in his last eight
games. Nylander has five assists in his last six.

Ovechkin doubled the advantage by sweeping in from the left side
and stuffing a shot past Halak just 3:42 into the second.
Ovechkin, who has recorded points in 10 straight games, entered
the contest tied with Philadelphia's Simon Gagne for the longest
active scoring streak in the league.

Steckel's goal off passes from defenseman Sami Lepisto and
Brooks Laich gave the Capitals a 3-0 lead five minutes later.

"With (eight injured) guys out of the lineup, certain guys like
myself are getting a little more ice time," said Steckel, who
scored his fourth goal of the season. "Guys did a great job
stepping up tonight. You can't say enough about (the younger
call-ups). They came to play."

The Capitals improved to 9-0-1 at Verizon Center and remain one
of only two teams - along with the San Jose Sharks - in the NHL
without a regulation loss at home. Washington is 15-0-1 in its
last 16 regular-season home games and is 30-8-4 under Boudreau.
The Capitals' seven straight home wins match their longest home
winning streak of last season and their best since winning seven
in a row at home in 2000-01.

After skating to an 8-1-1 start, the Canadiens are 4-5-3 in
their last 12 games.

"We knew they had injuries," Carbonneau said. "We knew how hard
they work. We know the kind of record they have at home. They
came to work - and we didn't respond."

Between Saturday and the NHL's Christmas break, the Canadiens
will play 10 of their next 11 games at home. Montreal's only
road contest in that stretch is a December 16 visit to Carolina.

"I don't think we thought it'd be easy, but definitely we let
our guard down after beating Detroit - and maybe thought we were
a better team than we really are," Canadiens right wing Tom
Kostopoulos said. "We forgot how we beat Detroit by outworking
them. I thought we were going to step on the ice and win but
that's not the case and we know that. Unfortunately, we were on
the wrong end again tonight."